Attention To Detail
by CSI Ali
Summary: And you know why, because you’re too wrapped up in all your personal problems to remember what’s important! [EricCalleigh]


**A/N – **I had this idea very late a few nights ago, and it just wouldn't leave me. I wrote this just to get it out of my system so I can move on with other projects. In fact, I'm really not sure if I like this at all yells at muses :)

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She'd had enough. From the moment the tainted evidence had first been presented to her, Calleigh had been on a mission to find him, blazing down the corridors so fast that the many onlookers were sure they had seen a trail of smoke in her wake. It had crossed their minds, but nobody dared to confront her when she was in this kind of mood, no amount of words would calm her down. She was downright enraged; the combination of too many double shifts, difficult cases and lack of sleep had been wearing her down all week, and this error had finally pushed her to the breaking point. Calleigh never got angry without good reason, and if she did, somebody was going to pay the price.

Her eyes finally fell upon his figure, sitting in the layout room, lazily studying something with the magnifying glass in his hand. She approached him in a wave of fury, thrusting the glass door far harder than was necessary as she entered the room and forcefully slammed the contents of her hand down on the table in front of him. He jumped in shock, dropping the tool as he looked up to see who had caused the disturbance, confusion masking his face when he saw the rage in her glare.

"Care to explain this, Eric?" she asked forcefully as she gestured towards the folder now lying haphazardly in front of him. He glanced down quickly, recognizing the article instantaneously. Perplexed, he brought his eyes back up to hers.

"Explain what?"

Calleigh threw her hands down on the desk, reaching over the table and opening the case file to retrieve one picture and place it on top of the pile. Eric looked down at it intently as she hovered over him, her hands placed firmly upon her hips, looking more confrontational than he had ever seen her. All he could do was blink in bewilderment. "Am I supposed to be seeing something here?"

She let out an annoyed sigh at his ignorance. Whenever she was pissed, he always had a tendency to make things worse by putting his foot in his mouth, albeit by accident. "The Johnson case got thrown out."

He rose from his chair, "What! Why?"

"Because," she said, the volume and intensity of her voice beginning to increase, "You forgot to put case identifiers on your crime scene photos."

Eric's face fell as she brandished the items in question and thrust them directly into his line of sight, pointing vigorously at the lack of text and numbers in the bottom right-hand corner. He took them from her slowly and silently studied them with care. She was right. How had he not noticed that before? He brought one of his hands up to his head, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "How did this happen?"

"Oh, I don't know," Calleigh stated sarcastically, "Maybe because you were too busy flirting with the victim's sister to stay focused on the case!" She knew she didn't really mean that, but everything was overwhelming her and she needed to vent. The case would have been a lock if Eric hadn't made a mistake, but now it was just days of wasted time, and seeing a criminal walk free because of an avoidable mistake was the last thing she needed right now.

The Cuban looked up at her, upset evident in his eyes. Her opinion mattered to him, more than anyone else's and more than he would probably ever let on. He would never do anything that would damage the integrity of the case, and mistakes that he had made, that he deeply regretted, had gotten him a reputation that he really didn't warrant. He wasn't like that, he thought Calleigh of all people would know that, but it was evident by the way she was throwing it in his face that she didn't. In one sentence, she'd not only managed to insult him as a CSI, but as a man too. And that hurt so much more.

"Hey! You know it wasn't like-" he began to yell in reply, but was cut off by another strain of her verbal onslaught.

"No, Eric, what I know is we no longer have a case! These photos are of the weapon used in the assault, evidence which you processed. They're useless to use now. The chains of collection and custody are compromised; the one link between our attacker and the victim has been thrown out. Thanks to you, a man who nearly bludgeoned his wife to death with a crowbar is now back out on the streets!"

He stood silently, staring down at the ground as the guilt washed over his entire body. Eric could feel Calleigh's heated glare burning a hole through him as he stared disbelievingly at the items in front of his eyes. "There's got to be more evidence, something else that proves he was the attacker…" He trailed off as he thumbed furiously through the file, hoping something he had missed before would jump out and dig him out of the hole that he has so carelessly constructed for himself.

The blonde scoffed, "Yeah, well good luck finding anything. What the hell do you think I've been doing for the past few hours whilst you were out doing God knows what?" she spat viciously.

Eric snapped his head up, his guilt subsiding as he was once again overcome by anger at her accusations. He slammed his fists down onto the desk, leaning in closer so he could confront her eye to eye, his impassioned expression only rivalling that of her own. He felt terrible, surely she could see that, so why was she still insulting him? She'd crossed the line from being understandably livid about the demise of the case, to just being outright cruel towards him.

"Look, what do you want me to say? I'm sorry, okay, but that doesn't mean you have the right to-"

"Maybe sorry just doesn't cut it this time! You can't seem to focus fully on a case, and this is causing you to miss things. In this profession, it's the little details that are crucial, and if we miss something then killers walk free! This is far from the first mistake you've made recently, and you know why, because you're too wrapped up in all your personal problems to remember what's important!"

That last statement cut him to the bone, and he immediately recoiled, breaking eye contact with her and she continued her spiteful rant, "…We've all got issues, Eric, but we learn to leave them at the door, it's about time you started to do the same!"

Calleigh finally paused, breathing heavily through the red hue now covering her perfect face. Arms folded, she stood rooted to the spot, waiting some kind of reaction from her adversary. But little did she know that he had long ago tuned out from her tirade, and was now thinking about something altogether very different.

Silently, Eric made his way towards the door. He didn't want to continue this, he hated fighting with Calleigh, and he knew if they continued much longer he would start berating her the way she had him, and he never wanted to hurt her, even if it that feeling didn't apply both ways.

He stopped suddenly. Was he going to take this abuse lying down? Truth was, something she had said resonated deep within him, offended him so deeply that he wanted to show her how untrue her comments were. If this were anybody else, he would have just brushed it off, but this was Calleigh, _his_ Calleigh. The person in the world whom he held in highest regard. The one woman he had ever really cared about. And as much as it scared him to admit, even in his head, the one woman he truly loved. Eric never wanted her to ever have a negative opinion about him, no matter how small or trivial the issue was. But this was no small issue, it was pretty damn big. With a gulp and a sigh he turned back round to face her. She was looking away from him, he was sure she had done that purposely, but not having to look her in the eye made his next move a whole lot easier. He took a final deep breath before beginning.

"It was the first Monday in September. The weather was perfect, hot and sunny but with a cool breeze to compliment it. There was accident on 7th & Flagler; I would have been late, but I had left 25 minutes early because I was getting far too anxious waiting around at home."

Eric smiled gently as he recalled the day; the events would be forever etched in his mind.

"I remember being walked up to Horatio's office. Standing outside there, I don't think I've ever felt more nervous or scared in my entire life. I was pacing in front of the door when something caught my eye. I looked up, and I saw you. You weren't doing anything special, you were just sitting in the Trace lab, looking a something under the microscope. There was just something about the way you were working, so focused and so content, I just got lost in watching you, and suddenly I wasn't at all scared any more. Eventually, Horatio came and he showed me around, gave me a locker and a kit. We were talking in his office, when you came rushing in. You'd just gotten a lead on your case, you looked so happy."

He stopped suddenly, wondering what Calleigh thought of his little monologue. Was she even listening at all? Did it mean anything to her? He shrugged off the worry, he was already half-way home, and it made no sense to stop now.

"He said you had excellent timing, and then introduced you as the CSI who'd I'd be working with during my probationary period. I stood up to shake your hand, and got my first proper look at you. You were wearing a thin white sweater, grey slacks, and these ridiculously high heels that I was sure must be uncomfortable. I, uh, later found out they were, you just wore them because they made you that teeny bit taller. Your hair was up that day, swept back in a high ponytail. I remember having this strange urge to let it down just so I could see how it framed your face. Somehow I managed to mumble my name, and I finally mustered up the courage to look at you. The first time I looked into your eyes I knew you were something special, somebody extraordinary. Then all of my negative emotions were gone, and I was just filled with the need to prove myself to you, and get to know you better. I can still recall your smile like it was yesterday."

Eric gulped hard, realising he'd revealed more than he ever intended to. He quickly brought his gaze down to his feet, shuffling them uncomfortably. All he could do was go back to the original subject and hope Calleigh didn't read as far into that story as he thought she would.

"I care deeply about my job. I'm human, and I admit I made a mistake, but don't ever say that I don't remember what means the most to me."

He wordlessly left the room, not even lifting his eyes from the ground once. Calleigh was left in a state of utter shock. She was a CSI, overanalysing things was in her nature, but she was sure Eric's story implied that _she _was one of the things he felt most important. She hurriedly tried to compose herself, knowing that she needed to get back to work as quickly as possible if they stood any chance of nailing down more evidence on their suspect before he made bail, but she knew no amount of work was going to prevent the plethora of questions that were now spinning around in her head.

It was the end of her shift before Calleigh had located Eric again. Everything had been fixed, and they had been lucky enough to catch another break in the case; the abusive husband was not going to go unpunished this time. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Eric's obscure confession since he'd given it, nor could she suppress the guilt she was feeling about instigating the dispute in the first place. Discovering him in the locker room was a stroke of luck, she was sure he was avoiding her. As awkward as this conversation was probably going to be, she knew she had to take the chance when it presented itself.

She quietly snuck into the room, damning the sound of her heels for announcing her entrance before she could. Encouraged by the fact that Eric did not immediately run away from her for dear life, she took a seat next to him on the bench, making certain there was a comfortable distance between them. The silence, although only short, was too much for Calleigh to tolerate, and she quickly realised that she was going to have to be the first one to speak.

"That was, um, quite a speech there."

She was relieved when he let out a low chuckle. "Well, I never have been one to do things by halves."

"Boy, I'll say!" she replied for lack of anything better coming to mind. She figured the exchange would be easier without the uncomfortable silences. Her theory was promptly proven accurate when another ensued seconds later. Eric stood up in an attempt to stifle the tension. He was convinced they both had plenty they wanted to say, but just couldn't find the right words. He shouldn't have been surprised; this had been the major flaw in their relationship all along.

Calleigh couldn't wait any longer; she had so many questions she wanted to ask, needed to ask. She figured she would just let her mouth say what it would and worry about it later.

"You know before, when you where talking about things that you care about the most, were you really-"

"Yes, I was." Eric cut her off. He had been anticipating this question from her; that she would want to know if he had been talking about her in that statement. He figured the quicker he could answer her questions, the quicker he could run out to the sanctuary of his car and pretend it never happened.

She probed further, hoping that by looking at the restricted view she had of his face she would be able to decipher his true emotions, "Did you really mean it?"

He finally turned to look her in the eye. If he was going to make a confession, he might as well attempt to do it right, "Every word."

As quickly as he'd uttered the sentiment, he shied away from her again, busying himself with emptying his locker with the things he planned to take home that night. Calleigh smirked to herself, a surprised as she was by today's events, she couldn't deny she had been hoping he'd say those things to her for a long while now. In fact, she'd wanted to say something similar, but for some reason she could just never get it out when the opportunity arose. It didn't take a genius to realise now was the moment for her to open up her heart to the man she loved.

She jumped up from her seat and approached Eric ever so slowly, laying a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. He spun around, and she took her chance to bring him into her embrace, taking his arms and wrapping them around her waist. If she couldn't tell him how she felt, then she was just going to have to show him. She leaned up to him slowly and placed a long, lingering kiss on his cheek, dangerously close to the corner of his lips. She pulled back ever so slightly, just enough so he could look into her bright emerald orbs. She wanted him to remember the look in her eyes, the silent confession that told him she felt the exact same way he did. Calleigh leaned into Eric again, almost on tiptoes, and brought her lips to his for the very first time.

It wasn't an elaborate kiss, not like the ones you see in the movies. It was sweet, gentle and tender, but far from full of passion. Both poured all their emotions into that kiss, everything that they had kept hidden from each other far longer than they should have.

Satisfied, they finally parted, resting their foreheads against one another, just basking in the feeling in being in each others arms, the way they were both certain it was meant to be. Calleigh was the first to bow her head, giggling lightly. "I bet you're glad I wore the heels now."

Eric chuckled in return. He'd always wondered if they would have a height issue, but now, he was sure she was just the right size to kiss him without the aid. It made sense; everything else screamed that they were the perfect fit. "I think we would have been okay."

They broke apart, holding each others hands, "So I guess we've got some things to talk about, huh?" Calleigh mused, bringing another wry laugh out of the man in front of her. What an understatement that was.

"Looks that way doesn't it," Eric smiled, letting go of one of her hands to bend down to pick up his bag, "Your place or mine?"

"I don't mind, but either way, I'm driving."

He pulled his free hand out of his pocket, dangling his keys front of her, "I guessed as much."

The pair walked in silence to the car, with such huge smiles plastered across their faces that passers-by began to worry in case they were contagious. Eric couldn't help it though, he had no idea how the days bizarre events had manifested, let alone how they had ended up with him kissing Calleigh Duquesne and taking her over to his apartment. He wasn't shocked though, everything else about her was anything but conventional, and their relationship even less so. He would have bet on something outlandish as his story to propel them together. On second thoughts, he wouldn't have; knowing Calleigh once the bet was made she probably would have just changed the rules.

Once inside the vehicle, Calleigh abandoned the gear stick, instead reaching over in search of Eric's hand. She laughed gently and started up the car.

"What's so funny?" Eric felt compelled to ask her.

"Nothing, I just bet you'll remember this moment in crystal clarity too somehow."

And if Eric had been a betting man, he'd have taken those odds too.


End file.
